Mayor delivers 40,000 new trees to parks and playgrounds with launch of £1.5m woodland fund
• 40,000 new trees for local parks, estates and community spaces in 21 boroughs• £1.5m City Hall fund for boroughs and charities to create new woodland• Sadiq announces National Park City mass tree planting weekend in December
More than 40,000 new trees are on their way to parks, playgrounds, estates, schools and community spaces across London as part of the Mayor’s ambition to make London a National Park City. Projects in 21 London boroughs are being funded by the Community Tree Planting Grants as part of the Mayor’s Greener City Fund.
Sadiq Khan wants to maintain and expand the capital’s ‘urban forest’ of eight million trees which can store carbon, help improve air quality, and create habitat for wildlife.
To help increase London’s tree canopy Sadiq has launched a £1.5million woodland fund for boroughs, charities and public sector land owners to create new large-scale woodland for all Londoners and visitors to the capital to enjoy. The Mayor is committed to protecting and improving the green belt and increasing the current proportion of London’s land area under tree canopy by 10 per cent by 2050. Sadiq is also working with partners to co-ordinate a National Park City weekend of mass tree planting across London on the 1 and 2 December. Londoners will be invited to roll up their sleeves and get involved in large tree planting events to create new urban woodlands in parks across London. These include three large projects funded by this round of the Mayor’s Community Tree Planting Grants, delivered by Trees for Cities: Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham, Forest Road Recreation Ground in Redbridge and Montagu Recreation Ground in Enfield. As part of the weekend of tree planting, the Mayor will also make free tree packs available for Londoners, community groups and schools to plant their own trees at home, at schools and in local green spaces. The Mayor hopes tens of thousands of new trees will be planted across the weekend. More details will be announced shortly and people can register their interest by visiting www.london.gov.uk/grow. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “Our much-loved green spaces boost our environment and enhance our quality of life and I’m committed to planting thousands of new trees. City Hall want our new woodland funding to help improve our Green Belt and I’ve written to all London boroughs asking them to nominate suitable sites. We are also delivering 40,000 new trees to brighten a range of local parks, buildings and green spaces. As we move towards making London the world’s first National Park City I’d encourage everyone to get involved in helping make our city greener and to take part in the mass tree planting this December. ”
Kate Sheldon, Development Director at Trees for Cities said ""We are delighted to be the lead events partner for the Mayor of London""s first mass tree planting weekend and are busy planning fun, family-friendly planting days out in north, south, east and west London. We""ll need hundreds of volunteers to help us plant so do join us!”
Local projects receiving some of the 40,000 new trees that will be planted over the upcoming months include:- London Wildlife Trust will plant 1,500 trees to create a new 0.45-hectare woodland in Hillingdon, opening up the site to the public for the first time - London Faiths Forum will work with faith communities across the capital to plant trees near places of worship- Loughborough Estate will create a new community orchard on the communal areas around the estate in Lambeth- 546 new trees are being added to Mayesbrook Park playing fields in Barking and Dagenham to support local wildlife and enhance the park- Berwick Glades Extension, a former landfill site, will have 9,723 trees planted to deliver 4.49ha of new community woodland in the heart of the Thames Chase Community Forest in HaveringThe following three projects will be delivered by Trees for Cities as part of the National Park City volunteer mass tree planting weekend on 1 and 2 December:- Up to 5,000 new trees will be part of a new woodland in the currently underused Montagu Recreation Ground in Enfield.- A community ‘edible woodland’ will be created in Beckenham Place Park, Lewisham, with up to 5,000 trees being planted- 15,000 trees will help transform the currently underused Forest Road Recreation Ground, into beautiful community urban woodland in RedbridgeENDS
Notes 1, The £1.5m Woodland funding is available to public sector landowners, public bodies and charities, and London boroughs. Expressions of interest close 12 October 2018 – aiming for sites to be confirmed by February 2019. For more information visit https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiversity/trees-and-woodlands2, The Mayor is working with partners across London to set criteria for a National Park City, which will include:• Protecting and increasing the amount of green space in the capital• Increasing access to green spaces for Londoners of all ages, particularly in areas where there is currently a deficiency• Increasing the quality of green spaces, ensuring they are well maintained and create healthy habitats for wildlife• Valuing London green spaces, accounting for the health, environmental, social and economic benefits it brings3, In 2017-18, the first round of the Mayor’s Community Tree Planting grants supported 27 projects across London. Case studies and photographs can be found on the City Hall website at: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiversity/greener-city-fund/community-grants/community-tree-planting-grants-2017-18 To see projects the Mayor has already supported across London visit Greener City map 4, The Mayor’s Community Green Spaces grants have also reopened for applications for projects to take place in 2019. Boroughs, charities, community groups and schools can apply for grants of between £5,000 and £50,000. The deadline for applications is 1 October 2018. This year there is a new type of grant available to support greening projects in schools that help protect students from air pollution. Projects could include creating new community gardens, greening school playgrounds or restoring rivers. All the information about the grants is available on the City Hall website at: www.london.gov.uk/greener-city.